Gluten Free, Dairy Free Christmas Breakfast

Our family will be together for breakfast on Christmas morning.  It's the first breakfast we've shared since some time in May, and this mama is so looking forward to it.  I will love going to the Christmas Eve service with Tom and both our boys, enjoying a wonderful Christmas Eve salmon dinner together, everyone sleeping under one roof, opening gifts on Christmas morning then spending the afternoon with my side of the family.  But what I most look forward to is sitting together over a wonderful Christmas breakfast.

We recently discovered an amazing recipe for Salmon and Sweet-Potato Frittata which will incorporate leftover salmon from the night before.  My, oh my, it is delicious!  We'll also make up a batch of our favorite applesauce muffins and serve slices of pear.  (Years ago we started putting pears in the toe of the Christmas stockings but I have to buy them early in the week so they will be ripe enough for Christmas!)

The frittata recipe comes from Real Simple.  I'll give you the original recipe but will tell you how we adapted it to make it gluten and dairy free.  I found the muffin recipe at GF-Zing!

Photo: David Prince in Real Simple

Salmon and Sweet Potato Frittata

Serves 4 [We found it served 6-8]

Hands-on Time: 20 minutes

Total Time: 40 minutes

Ingredients

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 large sweet potatoes, peeled and grated (3 cups)

1 small onion, chopped (1 cup)

1 pound skinless salmon fillet, cut into ½ inch cubes

6 eggs

¼ cup milk [Use rice or soy milk]

2 cup Swiss cheese, diced (8 ounces)  [We used a combination of Better Than Cream Cheese and Imo, both soy products. Or use a grated non-dairy cheese such as Daiya.]

¼ cup fresh tarragon leaves

1 teaspoon kosher salt

freshly ground pepper

Directions

1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.  In a deep 8- to 10-inch ovenproof skillet, heat the oil over moderately high heat.

2. Add the sweet potatoes and onion and cook, stirring until tender, about 5 minutes.

3. Add the salmon. Cook, stirring, for about 5 minutes or until cooked through. Remove the skilled from heat.

4. Whisk together the eggs, milk, cheese, tarragon salt, and a few grinds of pepper.  Add to the skillet. Stir.

5. Bake the frittata in the upper third of the oven for 20 minutes or until set. Transfer to a plate. Cut into wedges.

Applesauce Muffins – Gluten Free

These yummy muffins were developed for the GF-Zing! Website.  The large amount of cinnamon balances the blandness of rice-based flours.  Makes 12 muffins.

In a large bowl, mix:

½ cup vegetable oil

1 cup sugar or sucanat

1 egg or ¼ cup egg substitute

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

2 teaspoons cinnamon

1 teaspoon allspice

¼ teaspoon cloves

1 ½  teaspoons xantham gum

Mix thoroughly, then stir in 2 cups Bette’s Featherlight Rice Flour Blend.  (See recipe below)

Next, stir in 1 cup dried cranberries and ½ cup broken or chopped pecans.  Stir to blend thoroughly.  Spoon the batter into the muffin liners, then bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until a toothpick comes out clean.

Featherlight Rice Flour Mix by Bette Hagman:

3 cups rice flour 

3 cups tapioca flour

3 cups cornstarch

3 tablespoons potato flour (not potato starch)